The U.S. court has begun trial against the defendants in the HashFlare cryptocurrency mining fraud case involving $575 million

ChainCatcher news, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Estonian citizens Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin appeared in court for the first time yesterday on charges of cryptocurrency fraud. The Western District of Washington previously accused them of operating a fraudulent cryptocurrency mining service, HashFlare, from 2015 to 2019, deceiving hundreds of thousands of victims into investing over $550 million, but the promised mining shares were never delivered. In May 2017, Potapenko and Turõgin raised at least $25 million through investments in Polybius, claiming they would establish a virtual currency bank. Although Polybius promised to distribute dividends from its profits, the bank was never established, and most of the funds were allegedly transferred to accounts controlled by the defendants.

The DOJ further alleged that the two laundered money through shell companies, fake contracts, and invoices, used to purchase 75 properties, six luxury cars, cryptocurrency wallets, and thousands of mining machines. They face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 16 counts of wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each charge.